I doubt anyone was happy when they did that to him. Probably why it hasn't been done since.
My understanding is that when Bitty Schram left, she and the actors playing Randy and Captain Strottlemeier were having problems because a lot of the guest stars were making more per episode than they were. Shaloub and the other producers were making "hit series" money, but they weren't. So instead of paying all 3 more, they paid 2 more and replaced the third with someone they wouldn't have to pay as much yet, and they went so overboard with Sharona's leaving so that there'd be no chance of her ever coming back. You could tell there were problems because she wasn't as around as much just before.
What made me mad about it is that in season 3, Sharona is taking care of her mother a lot...instead of simply making her leave to be with her mother, they went out of their way to villainize her and make it so she could never come back.
At the end of season 4, Monk was guaranteed 3 more seasons...by the time the contract is ready for renewal it'll be at seven years, when a lot of stars start getting ready to move on, so I imagine that Monk will have a planned ending instead of cancellation.
Completely off topic but, do you know where the frame in your icon is from?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2007-07-26 04:26 pm (UTC)My understanding is that when Bitty Schram left, she and the actors playing Randy and Captain Strottlemeier were having problems because a lot of the guest stars were making more per episode than they were. Shaloub and the other producers were making "hit series" money, but they weren't. So instead of paying all 3 more, they paid 2 more and replaced the third with someone they wouldn't have to pay as much yet, and they went so overboard with Sharona's leaving so that there'd be no chance of her ever coming back. You could tell there were problems because she wasn't as around as much just before.
What made me mad about it is that in season 3, Sharona is taking care of her mother a lot...instead of simply making her leave to be with her mother, they went out of their way to villainize her and make it so she could never come back.
At the end of season 4, Monk was guaranteed 3 more seasons...by the time the contract is ready for renewal it'll be at seven years, when a lot of stars start getting ready to move on, so I imagine that Monk will have a planned ending instead of cancellation.
Completely off topic but, do you know where the frame in your icon is from?